Cutting mechanism.



No. 789,776. v v PATBNTED MAY 16, 1905. E. L. WHITE. CUTTING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 8, 1903.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

No'. 789,776. PATENTED MAY 16, 1905. E. L. WHITE.

CUTTING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 8, 1903.

' 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Pl f .1 i N f \k v s g I w if! 1% sq it i l a 111 we 1 1 loz PATENTEDMAY 16, 1905.

'13. L. WHITE.

CUTTING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 8,1903.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3 W oww q Vi I: 103303 ifwh NITED STATES Patented May 16,1905.

PATENT QFFICE.

CUTTING MECHANISM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 789,776, dated May 16,1905.

Application filed gu 8,1903. Serial No. 168,719.

To (bi/Z whmn it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD L. WHITE, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Englewood, county of Bergen, State of New Jersey,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cutting Mechanism,of which the following is a specification, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

My invention relates to improvements in cutting mechanism, andparticularly to cutting mechanism such as is employed in tubemakingmachinery for cutting off lengths of tube.

My invention comprises reciprocating cutting means adapted to effect acutting operation while traveling in the same direction andsubstantially at the same speed as the tube.

The main object of my invention is to sever a tube into predeterminedlengths while it is being fed forward continuously.

My invention further consists in certain novel details of constructionand combination of parts to be particularly described in the followingspecification, and other advantages will appear hereinafter.

I will now proceed to describe a cutting mechanism embodying myinvention and will then point out the novel features in claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is arear elevation of cutting mechanismembodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a view in central verticallongitudinal section of the same viewed from the other side thereof.Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the same. Fig. 4 is a detail view intransverse vertical section, showing particularly the cutters and theoperating mechanism therefor. Fig. 5 is adetail front View of theoperating mechanism for the cutters. Fig. 6 is a view, on asmall scale,of a portion of a tube-forming machine having my improved cuttingmechanism attached thereto.

In the embodiment of my invention herein a stationary bed-plate 1supports a pedestal 2, to which is secured a rearwardly-extendingbracket 3 and a forwardly-extending guidestud 4. A bearing-arm 5 ispivoted to the bracket 3 at its rear end, and the said bearing-arm formsa support for two feed-wheels 6 6. The feed-wheels 6 6 have groovedfaces adapted to engage a tube 7 and to be fed or rotated thereby. Theyare preferably geared together and are driven by engagement with thetube in the direction of the arrows in the drawings. The tube itself iscontinuously fed forward by any suitable means. Such means, however, perse forms no part of the present invention, and hence I will not describeor illustrate the same in detail. For the purposes of thisspecification, however, I have shown in Fig. 6 means at 41 comprising apair of belts adapted to engage the tube and to feed same forward, suchbelts driven from any suitable source. (Not shown here.) Continuousmovement of the belts 41 will result in a continuous forward feeding ofthe tube, and so long as the tube is so moved forward such movement willbe partaken of by the feed-wheels 6. The bearing-arm 5 is provided withan operating-lever 8 and a quadrant having ratchet-teeth 9 thereon. Bygrasping the operating-lever 8 the bearingarm may be swung upon itssupport, so as to cause the said wheels to press more or less closelyupon the tube, and a pawl 10, pivoted to an extension of the pedestal 2,engages the ratchet-teeth 9 to maintain the parts in the desiredposition to which they have been adjusted. A stationary mandrel 11 isarranged within the tube 6 and is suitably held against movement at somepoint near its rear end. (Not shown.)

As shown herein, a carriage is suitably sup-.

ported from the guide-stud 4 by antifrictionrollers 13. The carriage 12supports a crosshead 14, on which two cutters 15 are pivotally mountedand from which cutter-operating mechanism 16 is suspended by means ofside rods 17 The cutters 15 comprise levers 18 and cutting-knives 19.The cutting-knives are shown as secured to the cutting-levers 18 bymeans of screws 20, the said cutting-knives being slotted to permittheir adjustment as they become worn away. The lower ends of the levers18 are connected by toggle-links 21 with a cross-head 22. Movement ofthe crosshead 22 to straighten the toggle-links 21 will bring thecutting-knives 19 together to sever the tube passing between them, whilea movement of the cross-head 22 from such-position in either directionto carry the links 21 out of alinement either to the position in whichthey are shown in full lines in Fig. 4 or to the opposite position, inwhich they are shown in dotted lines in said figure, will move thecutting-knives apart, so as to clear the tube.

To effect movement of the cross-head 22, an operating-cylinder 23 isprovided, said cylinder secured to the rods 17 and carried by thecross-head 14 and carriage 12, as previously described, and a piston 24is mounted in the said cylinder and is connected to the cross-head 22 bymeans of a piston-rod 25. Motive fluid under pressure is admitted to thecylinder through a pipe 26, connecting with a source of supply, (notshown,) and admission from the pipe 26 to the front or rear end of thecylinder is controlled by means of an admission and exhaust valve 27.Ports 28 and 29 lead from the valve-chamber of the valve 27 to the lowerand upper end of the cylinder, respectively, and a port 30 leads fromthe said valve-chamber to exhaust. In one position of the valve,'asshown in Fig. 2, admission from the pipe 26 is permitted through theport 29 to the upper end of the cylinder, while the lower end of thecylinder is permitted to exhaust through the port 28 and exhaust-port30. In a reverse position of the valve or a position of the same rotatedninety degrees from the position in which it is shown in Fig. 2fluidwill be admitted from the pipe 26 through the port 28 to the lowerend of the cylinder and exhaust permitted to take place from the upperend of the cylinder through the ports 29 and 30.

The valve 27 is provided at a point exterior its casing with aratchet-wheel 31, rigidly secured to its stem, while an operating-lever32, carrying a pawl 33, is loosely mounted upon the said stem. Areciprocation of the operating-lever 32 through an arc of ninety degreeswill cause the pawl 33 to travel loosely over the ratchetwheel 31 whilemoving in one direction and will cause same to engage one of the teethof said ratchet-wheel to carry the valve therewith through an arc ofninety degrees while moving in the other direction.

The cutting mechanism, including the carriage 12, cutters 15, andoperating mechanism supported by the rods 17, are caused to reciprocateonce for every complete revolution of the feed-wheels 6 6 by means of aconnecting-rod 34:, connected to the carriage 12 at 35 and connected tothe upper feed-wheel 6 at a pivotal point 36, the axis of which issubstantially coincident with the periphery of said feed-wheel. Theconnecting-rod 34 is connected to a feed-wheel 6, which has nothing thesame direction as the tube.

to do but to operate the carriage, rather than to a part of themechanism which feeds the tube forward, because it sometimes happensthat the feeding mechanism for the tube slips with reference to thetubethat is to say, it slightly overruns same-while the feed-wheels 6 6,being operated by the tube and having nothing else to do but reciprocatethe carriage, maintain a correct relation to the tube without suchdanger of slipping. The pivotal connection of the connecting-rod 34 tothe feed-wheel at this point will cause the cutting mechanism to bereciprocated once during every feeding movement of the tube 7 a distancesubstantially equal to the length of the circumference of thefeed-wheels. The speed and direction of the movement of the saidmechanism will vary with respect to the feeding movement of the tube 7;but at the moment the point 36 is coincident with a straight linepassingfrom the center of one said feed-wheel to the other-@'. a, aposition at one hundred and eighty degrees with respect to the positionshown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings the speed and direction of themechanism will be identical with the speed and direction of movement ofthe tube. It is at exactly this moment that the cutting-off operationshould take place in order that a clean cut may be made. I thereforeconnect the operating-lever 32 by means of a link 37 with a stationaryportion of the device, as the bed-plate 1, so that the reciprocatingmovement of the operating mechanism compels a Vibratory movement of theoperating-lever 32 with the desired are. I then so arrange and constructthe valve 27 that just prior to the moment the parts reach theabove-mentioned cutting-point the valve will be so turned as to admitmotive fluid to the cylinder. At alternate strokes motive fluid will beadmitted to the upper and lower ends of the cylinder and exhaust will bepermitted from the opposite ends, respectively. A movement of the pistonfrom either one end of the cylinder to the other will have the effect ofmomentarily drawing the cutters together to cut ofi the tube in themanner just explained, it being entirely immaterial as to whether thepiston moves from the bottom of the cylinder to the top or from the topto the bottom. The out ting movement will be an exceedingly rapid one,as the operating-cylinder is quite small and the admission thereto willbe quiterapid. The toggle mechanism is one which gives an effective,powerful, and rapid movement to the cutters, so that admission of motivefluid to the cylinder being effected just prior to reaching thecutting-point the cutters will be rapidly operated at precisely thecutting-point or, in other words, at just the moment the cutters aremoving at the same speed and in A slotted guideway 38 extends forwardfrom the baseplate 1 and forms a lateral guide for the cuttingmechanism. An antifriction-roller 39 is mounted upon a boss 40 upon theupper end of the cylinder for engaging the said guideway.

In the specification and drawingsI have described and illustrated myinvention as applied to cutting off lengths of hollow tubes. It will beunderstood that my invention is equally applicable for other purposes,such as the cutting off of solid rods or the cutting olf of paper tubesfilled with tobacco, as in the manufactureof cigarettes, &c. It willalso be obvious that the foregoing is but one embodiment of my inventionand that the same is capable of many and varied modifications within thespirit and scope of my invention and, further, that certain parts may beemployed in connection with other parts of different construction. HenceI do not desire to be limited only to the precise details ofconstruction and combination of parts herein.

Vhat I claim is- 1. In a cutting mechanism, the combination with meansfor continuously feeding in one direction an article to be severed, anda crankpin arranged to have a planetary movement of revolutionsynchronous with such feed, of a cutter, a carrier therefor, aconnecting-rod connecting said crank-pin with said carrier, and meansfor operating the cutter at a predetermined point in the movement of thecarrier.

2. In a cutting mechanism, the combination with means for continuouslyfeeding in one direction an article to be severed, and a crankpinarranged to have a planetary movement of revolution synchronous withsuch feed, of a cutter, a carrier therefor, a connecting-rod connectingsaid crank-pin with said carrier, and means controlled by movements ofthe carrier for operating the cutter at a point about midway of themovement of reciprocation of the carrier.

3. In a cutting mechanism, the combination with means for continuouslyfeeding in one direction an article to be severed, and a feedwheel whoseperiphery engages the said article, of a cutter, a carrier therefor, acrankpin carried by said feed-wheel or part movable coincident therewithat a point opposite its said periphery, a connecting-rod connected tosaid crank-pin, and to said carrier, and means for operating the cutterat a predetermined point in the movement of the carrier.

4. In a cutting mechanism, the combination with continuously-rotatingfeed-wheels 6, one of said feed-wheels provided with a crank-pin 36 at apoint therein opposite its periphery, of a cutter, a carrier for same, aconnectingrod connecting said carrier with said crankpin 36, and meansfor operating said cutter at a predetermined point in the rotation ofsaid feed-wheels.

5. In a cutting mechanism, the combination with means for feedingforward an article to be severed, a cutting device comprising two levers18, a carrier therefor, means for reciprocating the carrier, togglemechanism for operating the said levers, and means for operating thesaid toggle mechanism at a predetermined point in the movement of thecarrier.

6. In a cutting mechanism, the combination with means for feedingforward an article to be severed, a cutting device, a carrier therefor,means continuously engaging the article operated upon for reciprocatingthe carrier, and fiuid-pressure-operated means for operating the cuttingdevice.

7. In a cutting mechanism, the combination with means for feedingforward an article to be severed, a cutting device, a carrier therefor,means for reciprocating the carrier, toggle mechanism for operating thecutting device, and fluid-pressure-operated means for operating thetoggle mechanism.

8. In a cutting mechanism, the combination with means for feedingforward an article to be severed, a cutting device, a carrier therefor,means for reciprocating the carrier, fluidpressure-operated meanscarried by the carrier, a fluid-pressure controller, and means operatedby the movements of the carrier for operating the said controller.

9. In a cutting mechanism, the combination with means for feedingforward an article to be severed, a cutting device, a carrier therefor,means for reciprocating the carrier, fluidpressure-operated meanscarried by the carrier, a valve traveling with the fluid-pressure meansfor controlling admission of fluid-pressure thereto, an operating-leverfor said valve, and a connection between said operating-lever and astationary portion of the device.

10. In a cutting mechanism, the combination with means for feedingforward an article to be severed, a cutting device, a carrier therefor,means for reciprocating the carrier, fluidpressure-operating means foroperating the cutting device, said fluid-pressure-operating meansincluding a piston, and means connecting same with said cutting device,whereby a cutting operation is effected upon movement of the piston ineither direction.

11. Inacuttingmechanism,thecombination with means for feeding forward anarticle to be severed, a cutting device, a carrier therefor, means forreciprocating the carrier, fluidpressure-operating means carried by thecarrier comprising a cylinder and a piston therein, admission andexhaust valve mechanism .for admitting and exhausting motive fluidalternately to and from opposite ends of the said cylinder, and aconnection between the piston in said cylinder and the cutting device,

&

whereby a cutting movement of the cutting device is effected upon eachmovement of the said piston in either direction.

12. In a cutting mechanism, the combination With means for continuouslyfeeding in one direction an article to be severed, and a feed- Wheeladapted to engage the said article and to be operated thereby, of acutting device, a carrier therefor, means connecting with saidfeed-Wheel for reciprocating the carrier, and I0 means for operating thecutting device at a predetermined point in the reciprocation of thecarrier.

EDWARD L. WHITE.

Witnesses:

JAMES C. CHAPIN, C. F. GARRINGTON.

